1. Field
The following description relates to an apparatus and method for generating an ultrasonic image.
2. Description of Related Art
A market for a medical ultrasonic imaging device providing anatomical and functional information about internal parts of a human body in real-time and in a non-invasive and harmless manner, is growing steadily. A role of an apparatus configured to generate an ultrasonic image in various industrial environments in addition to the medical field, is also increasing.
To generate an ultrasonic image of an object, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus may transmit an ultrasonic wave to the object using a transducer configured to transmit and receive an ultrasonic wave, receive information reflected from the object, and perform a beamforming process, also referred to as a focusing process. However, technical properties of the ultrasonic wave may cause technical problems, such as, for example, a significant amount of noise, a quality of an ultrasonic image greatly affected by a scatter reflection due to a tissue in the object, and/or other technical problems known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Accordingly, to increase a resolution of the ultrasonic image, a correlation between a pattern of the ultrasonic wave and a value of the scatter reflection has been modeled and used in an image rendering process. In such a process, a process of estimating a point spread function (PSF) of the pattern has also been used. Conventional processes of estimating the PSF include estimating the PSF in a frequency domain, estimating the PSF in a spatial domain, and/or other processes known to one of ordinary skill in the art. However, the conventional processes provide a limited improvement in a resolution of an ultrasonic image due to an error in phase estimation and/or other limitations known to one of ordinary skill in the art.